ROOTS-in, Roots Tourism International Exchange,  is organized by Basilicata Region and APT, Basilicata Territorial Promotion Agency in cooperation with ENIT - Italian National Tourism Board and with the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is proposed as a moment of playing a facilitating role for national and international demand and supply.

Following the success of the first edition, the event will be held again this year on 20 and 21 November in Matera, European Capital of Culture in 2019.

The Vision
They want to promote and facilitate the knowledge of roots tourism within Italian and international tour operators, with the aim of developing specific packaged tours leading back to the roots, with a specific offer in line with this type of travellers’ requests. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations of Italians in the world visiting Italy are expecting a high emotional travel experience, because they are driven by the desire to get to know their places of origin, to regain possession of their family traditions and personal history.

The Mission
They wish to provide ideas and tools to build dedicated roots tourism packages,and to launch marketing and communication actions to promote ancestry tourism, with new itineraries to (re)discover the land, gastronomy, traditions, and current affairs. Roots tourism is an opportunity of destination marketing to let Italian regions grow and benefit from ancestors’ travellers know-how and life experiences .

Towards 2024, the year of Italian roots in the world
2024 will be a turning point in Italy's relationships with the community of 80 millions emigrants' descendants. It will strengthen our mutual exchange, boost travel and business. The italian government declared 2024 as the year of Italian Roots The hospitality system will have to deal with the multiple needs of roots visitors, who are not only tourists, but also business travelers and students. They need to be welcomed as"temporary residents"“. ENIT will play a key role in promoting roots tourism, playing on Italians' community sense of belonging. There will be specific communication initiatives, local and national events to drive tourism flows to the "homeland".
ROOTS-in is a point of reference in ancestry tourism, that creates a network of Italian sellers and international buyers interested in creating specific products for this niche, so as to trigger a virtuous mechanism of exchange and growth.

The audience
The opening forum topic is "Roots tourism and boroughs' regeneration" and is devoted to the various initiatives and actions within PNRR . The aim is to help and promote minor, inner areas with new professionals and innovative services devoted to roots tourists. The opening conference is organized in cooperation with ENIT - Italian National Tourism Board and it is directed to travel trade stakeholders, local authorities and to anyone interested in learning more about ancestry tourism- more specifically this year to those wishing to develop local inner areas and small boroughs.

The B2B workshop targets Italian tourism industry from hospitality to mobility, to business networks and incoming travel agencies and tour operators specialized in experiential tourism, who can get in touch with a selected audience of international buyers, from Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, USA, UK, Europe. Alongside with their B2B workshop they will host their ROOTS-in LAB, with speakers on stage to give quick insights, short talks about best practices, useful clues and tools to local travel trade operators. ROOTS in also stages an exhibition area where you will meet representatives of Italian local authorities and public bodies, associations, chambers of commerce, museums, universities and private firms interested in ancestral tourism.

The Roots tourist profile
Roots tourists are interested in capturing the essence of the places they visit, often small villages and routes outside standard sight-seeing. They appreciate the cultural aspects of the area and interactions with locals.They are very emotionally involved, and they wish to strengthen an emotional bond with a distant place, known only in pictures or in the stories of family members.

Other info here.